This is my project, a 1983 Honda VT500E which I restored to road worthy condition with the help of my friends Mark Potter and Scott Campbell. I purchased the bike for $200 as a fixer upper and spent nearly 3500 on it bringing it up to scratch. Everything was seized. I mean everything including engine, wheels, brakes and calipers and cables. The end product was good however. I got to enjoy riding it with the sense of satisfaction that I rebuilt a pretty nice retro bike. The Engine was rebuilt due to a seized number 1 con rod bearing. Due to some dodgy previous crankcase repairs using poor quality sealant on the housing the glue dislodged off the casing and embedded itself in the engine oil pick up causing the engine to loose oil pressure and thereby spinning the con rod bearing sizing the motor. It made it lots of fun to ge tit apart when I couldn't turn the engine at all so I had to cut the timing chain with bolt cutters. Regretted that cause the timing chains cost me 180 dollars each. Never mind.

The engine had new big end bearings, timing chains, guides, gasket kit and a full carby overhaul. Due manufacturers not making aftermarket undersize bearings the crankshaft waft brought back up to standard with a procedure called diamond Hard Chroming which is a special coating they give the damaged journal. I took this procedure cause an 80's model motorcycle is really hard to find parts for. As you would expect 6 months after the bike was running there were a few crankshafts for sale on ebay. Typical. Once the engine was rebuilt had to concentrate on the rest of the headaches like the hole in the fuel tank, the broken rear taillight, the missing side covers, the missing ignition barrel, the rotten exhaust, the deteriorated wiring harness and the rotten foot pegs.

I was lucky with quite a few of the parts. I purchased the last genuine side cover from honda brand new. The right hand cover I found at a local wrecker in sydney. The tail lamp replacement tailamp and front disc rotor came from an online chat forum in Switzerland which I was lucky to have a relative living there who helped me communicate with the people and make the transaction. What a nightmare guys. Cant believe how hard it was to get bits for the old girl. Once the bike was together and running complete the last thing to do was get it registered. Due to the compliance plate which in this bike's case was a sticker was missing it was a bit tricky to get it past the blue slip. Thankfully because I had the previous registration papers it was not too much problem. Many thanks got out to my friends Mark Potter and Scotty Campbell for all their help. Couldn't have done it without them. Here is a link to mark's web site www.mkpelectronics.com He runs a small electronics repair business in sydney's west. Why this bike you ask , because at the time I needed a bike to ride for my learners permit as my little yamaha rx125 couldn't quite cut my 165 KG weight.

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